The quick answer is - I'm just fine, great actually. Just busy. Or too tired when I stop to even put two words together.
It's ALL good though. I promise.
So what have I been up to?
Short version:
I'm good. Just busy.
We got a contract on the house in February.
We will move the second week in June.
Longer version (this is mainly for me since I use my blog as my diary):
(If you're wanting all the details you might want to grab another cup of coffee...or maybe a glass of wine...depending on the time you read this :-)
Paradise!
We've all heard the saying LET GO, LET GOD, right? It's so true. If only we would trust Him and wait for His timing, not ours.
It all started last May when we put the house on the market. We love our home and our neighborhood. That's not the reason we wanted to move. The house is big. Too big for just the two of us. That's not the reason we wanted to move either. Actually, we want to travel more...for fun and to see our children and grandchildren more. It's not easy to be together often since our family is so spread out. The four children and 10 grandchildren live in three different states...Mississippi, Tennessee and Georgia...and we live in Florida. Because of their work and the grandchildrens' school, activities, sports, etc., they can't come visit us very often, so we have to go to them.
Anyway, although selling the house is what we both wanted to do, it threw me into a "tizzy" trying to keep the house ready to show on short notice, do a lot of de-cluttering, and being out of the house almost every single weekend so that the Realtor could hold an open house. I'm a bit of a perfectionist so I drove MYSELF crazy.
I spent time every day praying "Please God sell this house". For two reasons - once George and I decide on something, we want to do it. Neither one of us is good at waiting. Also, I was ready to be settled again instead of always being "on show", if you know what I mean.
Months go by. I keep praying.
During this time, we are also looking around trying to decide where we wanted to move.
We lived in a condo right on the beach when we first moved to Florida. That's the view from our condo balcony in the photo above. Paradise for sure! It's a small non-rental ten unit building right on the beach. I LOVED living there and didn't want to move, but in 2006 George decided we needed to move after we went through a year with several hurricanes and we had to evacuate each time. Plus, he wanted to live on the golf course and be closer to the tennis courts, etc. So in 2006 we bought our house.
Fast forward to last May when we decided to sell our house. We knew we wanted to go back to condo living. It's wonderful having that "turn key" type situation. It makes it so easy to lock the door and leave whenever you want/need to. No worries about the yard, the pool, the roof during storms, etc.
We didn't even think about our beach condo since we leased it to a couple (who even talked about wanting to buy it if their house in Tennessee sold).
We found a condo we loved right on the bay with a gorgeous view of the bridge. We felt it was a perfect fit for us and were excited for the house to sell so we could buy it.
Then, not only was I praying for the house to sell, but for the condo we wanted to buy NOT to sell until we could buy it.
For months, the house didn't sell and neither did the condo we wanted to buy.
Then the holidays came and you know how crazy that can be. Not many people were looking at real estate.
Also, right before Thanksgiving my sister and her son needed to move in with us for a few months. I loved having them here. I realized quickly that God knew we would need to do this, so it's a good thing the house had not sold. Otherwise we would have moved to a smaller place and would not have been able to comfortably house two more adults.
God is so good.
After the holidays, I could feel myself getting anxious about the house again. Luckily the condo we wanted to buy had not sold either.
On January 3rd I had a complete "attitude adjustment". I don't like to think it had anything to do with resolutions though. I just woke up one morning and had a good long conversation with God. I knew I wanted to change my attitude and a few other things. I told God I knew I couldn't do it alone, but ME AND THEE could. I sat down and made a list of things I wanted to change. Giving up trying to control the sale of the house, where we should go, the timing of it all, etc. was on the list. Also, I wanted to read more....my bible and just books in general. I wanted to lose some weight and get fit. I wanted to become more involved with my church. I wanted to work on a few relationships. I wanted to spend less time on the computer and more time LIVING. There was more to my list, but you get the idea.
And you know what? I got busy doing exactly those things on my ME AND THEE list.
It's been great.
I didn't worry about the house selling.
I started reading my bible every day.
I read books that had been just sitting around waiting for me.
I began a serious fitness routine. Not any particular plan. I just count calories and exercise more. I've lost the 15 pounds I wanted to... and even a bit more. I feel better and love buying a smaller size ;-)
I'm on our church council and love being involved.
Lots of other good stuff going on too.
In February, we got a contract on the house. The buyers didn't want to close until June 30th. June 30th? That sounded crazy to us, but they needed time to close out a business (they are from out of town). They did finally agree to close two weeks earlier, so now we close on June 15th.
Again, God knew we could really use that extra time.
Within a week of getting the contract on our house, we found out that the couple who had been leasing our condo on the beach for years was moving. The condo where we used to live. The condo I loved. On.the.beach. (squeal)
I went over the day after they left. At first, I was blown away by the view and then felt that "I'm home" feeling. Next, I noticed how dirty it was. (sigh) I knew in my gut that I didn't want to lease again. I spent some time since I was alone just walking around and thinking about the situation. I decided the best plan of action was to move back there. I knew George wanted to sell it and the best way would be to move our nice furniture, art, etc. back into it. It would "show" better. It took a few days of convincing George. I suggested doing some updating to help it "show better" and to make it new to us too. He agreed. So, although I know it will mean two moves, I'm willing. In the meantime, who wouldn't want to be right on the beach in the summer. Not just any beach...but PARADISE....at least to us. Color Me Happy!!!!
Because we had plenty of time between getting the contract and the closing, we were able to make our two week annual trip to Palm Desert without feeling any pressure. My sister and nephew moved to their new place the day before we left on our trip. Things began to just fall into place.
I repeat...God is so good!
Sooooo...I've been a busy girl. I've been getting estimates and lining up all kinds of work, including painting, having the tile floors cleaned and the grout re-sealed, having hardwood floor installed to replace carpet, installing a new sink in the powder room, new knobs on all cabinets, etc. It's been work, but FUN work. Seeing it come together is so much fun. Even George is excited now. And so are our friends. They all loved the condo and enjoyed MANY a party there. And lots of great times on the beach.
Once we're in and things have settled down, we will put it on the market. It might take 3 days for it to sell or 3 years. Only God knows. I've learned to just place it in His mighty hands and relax. I personally am hoping we get to stay until at least November of this year ;-) September and October are some of my favorite months. But...I'll be happy to stay longer.
I've got lists going everywhere, workers scheduled all the time, I'm still looking for certain items for the condo, so I'm shopping in between it all. Plus, keeping up with my exercise, tennis, housekeeping, laundry, etc. keeps me hopping at night once I'm home. Crazy, busy, happy...that's me!
The moral of the story - LET GO, LET GOD
BTW...Yesterday I drove to Mississippi to see this little guy for a few days. He's napping now, so I've had some time to write this post ;-) Maybe, just maybe I'll have some time to visit YOU before he wakes or the next time he naps.
Big hugs and much love,
Kat
